Green Eyes and Delicacies
by DeathSerenade
Summary: Levi owns a French restaurant in NYC, while Eren is busy working at Erwin's bakery. When Eren suddenly decides to sit next to Levi one morning in the train, Levi's life takes a sharp turn, enabling him to open himself up to a world of new possibilities (and delicious foods). Will be very fluffy in the future. Riren, Ereri, probably a couple side pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**I like two very important things: food, and Ereri/riren fanfics. Putting the two together, I decided, would result in quite the interesting story.**

 **this is my first fanfiction, so please don't be too harsh with me, but please review anyway because I really want to hear your thoughts!**

 **As you might have guessed, my name is not Hajime Isayama, therefore I do not own Attack on Titan or any of the characters.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Levi knew, as soon as he allowed that brat to sit next to him, that things would change drastically in his orderly, outlined lifestyle. Maybe it was those piercing green eyes. Maybe it was the way he stood, out of breath, soaked with mud and filthy water, almost begging him for a place to sit. Maybe it really _was_ the shirt. Or maybe it was simply... curiosity. Well, curiosity had killed the cat, and in this case, it had most definitely thrown Levi's entire past way of living in the dump.

He _never_ let anyone sit next to him in the train. Every morning, he would place his bag on the seat beside his (the aisle seat, since Levi absolutely loathed being in close proximity to people early in the day and always took the window side), then would neatly fold up his jacket and scarf and place them elegantly on top. Nobody seemed to mind, anyway, especially since Levi made it his priority to look constantly irritated, bothered, and quite unfriendly in order to gain a peaceful, quiet ride to Manhattan for work.

That is, until that day when a troublesome bundle of carelessness, pretty eyes and I-just-became-an-adult-so-I'm-still-trying-to-figure-out-what-the-hell-to-do-with-my-life naivety decided to make it his morning goal to find a way to sit next to him. Disgusting.

Levi had just opened his newspaper and taken the first sip of his tea when the dripping, muddy mess skidded into the train just as the automatic doors were sliding shut. Levi raised an eyebrow and looked up in an uninterested way at whatever had just interrupted his habitual silence, only to find out that this trash heap, who was in fact a young man, was staring intently at him with blindingly bright green eyes.

If certain types of eyes had the ability to blind people, this guy would certainly have impaired his sight completely by now. He could just picture it: _Hello doctor, yes, I was blinded by some filthy stranger's flashy, Vegas casino-style green eyes. Fuck you if you don't believe me._ Damn, he needed help.

"Excuse me." Oh, the mud-pile was talking to him.

"What do you want?"

"Well you see, I woke up really late this morning by accident thanks to my broken alarm clock, and then I had to run to the train station to catch my train, which was leaving in five minutes, and I was running next to this giant ocean of a puddle and some rich asshole of a Cadillac driver just plowed right through it and soaked me to the bone and just before I got onto the platform, it started pouring and all this shit was ruining my favorite Guns n' Roses t-shirt, but when I got in here, I saw that you were wearing the _same amazing shirt_ and you know, I just felt a connection, and not to mention I really need to sit down and you seem to have, next to you, the only seat available."

"What you need is a shower, a towel, and a break from caffeine overdosing, because I seriously see no reason for you to be so excited so early in the goddamn morning, especially since you apparently just woke up about fifteen minutes ago." After pausing to look back at the New York Times for another minute, Levi realized that this kid was _still_ standing there and apparently had absolutely no will to move until his bag and coat and scarf were placed in the overhead racks and he had made space for him.

What a brat. _Is he made of duct tape or something? Why the hell isn't he trying to find another goddamn spot when my face and overall attitude are_ clearly _signs that he should probably leave me alone and stop trying to steal my bag's personal space? Why does it matter that we're wearing the same shirt? It's not as if bands are astrological symbols or some shit._

Since the whole situation was a pain in the lower back region, Levi decided to just let the kid sit next to him for the time being and potentially ignore him for the entire ride, which, as he realized as soon as the brat opened his mouth again, was no simple task.

"Well, sit down, since you apparently lack the ability to do anything else, and don't sit too close or you'll get my stuff wet," Levi said, opting to hold his bag in between his legs and put his coat on his lap, because he had once seen some passenger's stupid chihuahua climb out of the purse it was in and piss on the overhead racks. This was why he preferred cats - ugh, what did the hyperactive idiot want now?!

"Thank you very much! So what do you do in the city, sir - ah, Mr. - umm..."

"It's Levi. Just Levi. None of that "sir" bullcrap."

"Okay, so what do you do in the city, Levi? I see you often in the mornings and I noticed you never sat with anyone and always sat in the same spot but I discovered that you actually _do_ sit with people if they approach you and just ask when it's sort of an emergency like I did."

What was this to him, a science experiment? God, he was irritating. "I own a French restaurant," answered Levi, without looking up from the article he was reading about theories on life on other planets. Hypothesis: maybe this guy was an alien. It would explain the over-activeness and the eyes.

"Woah, cool! What's it called?"

" _Le petit géant_."

" _Petit_... little... _géant_... giant - Oh! So like, the little giant! That's such a cute name."

"Hn." In fact, Hanji had come up with it, thanks to the nickname she had given him when he was younger, in reference to his height and his strength, which seemed to fit a much bigger body.

"So is it any good?"

"Of course it's _good_ , you brat; I own it! If the food isn't _good_ , I fire people."

The young man laughed, and for some reason, the sound was so pure, so true, that Levi felt something - he wasn't quite sure what it was, but it was something completely... _different_.

"Hmph," he grunted, closing his eyes and taking a sip of his tea.

"So do you have any family living in New York also?" asked the green eyed young man.

Levi felt a sudden pang in his stomach as he processed the question. Exactly the type of question he loathed intensely and avoided as much as he could. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes softly, holding back a growing feeling of anger and annoyance, which hopefully was a sign for the young brat to quit his prying and nosiness.

"No," he replied curtly.

"Oh, okay, so where-"

"I'm not in the mood to talk about it, okay?!" snapped Levi. "It doesn't matter anyway, so please leave me alone!"

"Um, no, uh, I was just thinking, it's really cool that you have a restaurant, because I actually work at a bakery. I feel like we actually have so much in common!"

"We really don't, shithead," said Levi pointedly. "... So what, you make cakes and shit?"

"Well yeah, but I'm mostly in charge of pastries, like cream puffs, or croissants and stuff like that. Do you know _Erwin's_?"

Levi nearly choked on his Earl Grey. _This guy is a hazard to my health and my life in general. First he blinds me, then I nearly choke to death with that comment... Holy fucking shit. He works at Erwin's_.

"You work at Erwin's?!"

"Yeah!" replied the other, his face suddenly brightening up. Why was he so damn _sparkly_ ; who seriously was able to make a face like that at 7:30 a.m.? "So you _do_ know the place!" he exclaimed.

"... Yeah, I know it pretty well," said Levi after a pause. More like he knew _Erwin_. Having been culinary school classmates, they had been close friends for a while, but then Erwin had decided to take the whole thing up a notch and ask him out. They had been together for only about three weeks before realizing that it really wasn't at all meant to be, since nothing really clicked like that between them, and they tried to just go back to being friends.

Which apparently gave Erwin the complete right to constantly pester him with relationship advice and other unnecessary information, sprinkled with comments about his height like "maybe you haven't found the right one yet because they just can't see you."

Levi wasn't sure whether or not this was on purpose, but he made it his own business to greet him with a light kick in his "special area" each time they met. They hadn't spoken or communicated in any form for about six months now, due to the fact that Levi had told him specifically that he was getting way to "all up in his personal business" and "was interfering with parts of his life that were not to be meddled with."

Erwin had proceeded to point out that perhaps the shorter man was sexually frustrated, to which Levi responded with the hardest kick in the groin he had ever given him, along with a quickly scribbled note reading: "Now _you're_ the one who'll never again be able to properly make use of that sorry excuse of God's gift to the male gender. Love, Levi."

Well, maybe _never again_ had been a bit of an exaggeration, but it had been a bad day, Erwin was making it worse, and the sight of the fit, handsome, tall blonde writhing in pain was too satisfying to pass up. Anyway, he had kept following Levi for about an hour even when he had told him to leave him alone, and was insulting him (supposedly teasing) more than usually. He hoped that Erwin had learned his lesson. An angry Levi was not to be messed with.

He had turned and walked away soon afterwards, and they hadn't spoken since. Although Erwin had tried to call him a couple times, he had obstinately refused to answer. And now _this_ brat would probably go and blab all about this guy he met on the train named Levi who apparently liked the same band as him and who was most definitely alive and kicking and therefore perfectly capable of receiving Erwin's phone calls.

Throughout the remainder of the train ride to the city, the green-eyed idiot talked ceaselessly about his favorite singers, foods, artists, desserts, etc, taking breaks only to breathe and to fix up his messy brown hair, which apparently never lay the way he wanted it to. Since he seemed to have the full ability to entertain himself without Levi needing to respond in any way, shape or form, Levi decided to just close his eyes and pretend to sleep for the rest of the trip, which, for some reason, did not slow the other even a slight bit.

"How old even are you?"demanded Levi exasperatedly as they approached Grand Central Station.

"I'm 22, why?"

"Because you act ten years younger, like some kid on a permanent sugar high with the attention span of a squirrel."

"Oh come on, we're probably the same age, it's not as if -"

"I'm 27, you shitpile; don't just go guessing at people's ages, and even if we were the same age, you seem to lack the maturity that I possess."

"Oh."

Levi stiffened at this response. Why was he being sensitive about his age now when he hadn't been before? Probably because he was used to dealing with people either his age or older, and wasn't really one to socialize. Yeah, that was probably it. Well no, actually, not really, since a lot of the people at the restaurant were pretty young too. _What's wrong with me? And_ _I'm turning 28 in a month too,_ he thought to himself. _Almost 30... shit._

"Oh hey, we're here!" said the younger man, and as Levi was reaching to fold up his newspaper, the other stuck out his hand, obviously expecting Levi to take it. He grasped it a bit reluctantly, and the brunette flashed him a bright grin.

"My name's Eren, by the way, Eren Jaeger," he said, firmly shaking Levi's hand with both of his own.

"Great."

"It was really nice to meet you Levi, and I hope we see each other again soon!"

"... Swell."

Eren gave Levi one last wave and got off the train, walking briskly to wherever he was headed. Levi sighed. Having to deal with someone like that so early in the day gave him a headache.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hanji? Oi, Hanji!" _Where was that glasses freak?_ If he wanted her to be there by nine thirty, it was because she needed to be there at nine thirty, for God's sake, especially since she was the second most important chef in the kitchen (the first being himself, since Levi felt that you didn't _really_ own a restaurant if you didn't manage all of the cooking and did a share of it yourself). He should have known when he walked in and didn't hear her humming songs about science to herself that the restaurant was empty.

Nine thirty-five and the near-sighted food-and-chemistry lover still hadn't arrived. Well, at least he could be sure that she wasn't performing hazardous experiments with the baking soda and the lemons like she was trying to the week before, at least until Levi arrived and put a stop to everything before she could go any further.

The truth was, Hanji was an amazing cook, and Levi kept her in the kitchen for that reason and the fact that she was very neat when she needed to be. Her having been his first friend when he had moved to New York from France in middle school also helped, and although she really could be one of the most annoying people alive, droning on and on for hours about matters he really _couldn't_ give less of a shit about, it was undeniable that she was genuinely an extremely nice person, and one of the only ones who could withstand Levi in any and all of his moods.

The neat factor was very important, though, considering the slobs some of the other people he employed were. _Exhibit A right over there,_ he thought to himself, staring at the ugly pile of dirty dishes sitting in the sink. _Who the hell..._

The back door suddenly swung open, ringing a small bell. _Nine forty-five._

"Oh hi Levi, didn't expect you here this early; I'm so so so sorry I'm late; I was biking here and I must have run over a nail or something along the way because there's obviously a hole in my back tire and now it's flat," Hanji said, out of breath and resting her hands on her knees. She sighed. "I guess I'll have to take a taxi back tonight..."

"Yeah, okay, good morning, get to work."

"Okay, okay, I gotcha," she said, making her way to the shelves to grab a huge casserole.

"Hanji, who the hell was in charge of the dishes yesterday?"

"Parsley, basil, tomatoes... what?" she asked, fumbling with a jar located at a particularly difficult place to reach.

"Dishes, idiot, who was supposed to do the dishes?"

"Oh, oh, oh, umm... I think it was Connie."

"Damn it... His job is to _wash the dishes_ , not chat it up with Sasha twenty-four seven."

"Aw, come on Levi, they're young; and they're really cute, too!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together for emphasis.

"He and our waitress can be _really cute_ after they're done working!"

"Anyway, he said he was gonna come earlier than he needed to today just so he could finish up-Oh look, there he is."

The young twenty-one-year-old in questing barged into the restaurant a moment later, making the door slam against the wall loudly, then tripped over a broomstick handle on his way to the sink, falling flat onto the ceramic tiled floor. Hanji snorted loudly, apparently attempting to avoid bursting into uncontrollable laughter at the ridiculous sight.

Seeming completely unnerved, Connie got back onto his feet in seconds, all the while muttering to himself like a senile old man. The others could just barely make out the words: "Gotta finish cleaning up, Levi'll get mad at me, oh _God_ , he's gonna be _mad_ if he gets here and its not clean; hurry up Connie, watch the clock, shit, you don't have much time, damn it, Connie..."

From inside the pantry where he was grabbing a couple loaves of bread, Levi rolled his eyes. The boy might be even shorter than _he_ was, but he was like a clumsy elephant in the kitchen, always falling or dropping things and always being so damn _loud_... At least he replaced anything he broke himself. Levi would have taken the dishwasher boy/kitchen-cleaner-upper position away from him if it weren't for the fact that the mood in the kitchen was always ten times lighter and more relaxed with him in it.

Connie would always talk about issues he had while attempting to pet-sit his neighbor's dogs, or chat about a funny story he had seen on YouTube or somewhere on the Internet, his latest hobbies, entertaining anecdotes from his embarrassing high school years, and even Levi would occasionally smile at them, something that never went unnoticed by Hanji, who would take advantage of the moment to pinch his cheeks and gush over how cute itty bitty Wevi was, until Levi would kick her where it really hurt.

This morning, however, Connie looked unmistakably zombie-like as he scrubbed furiously at the dishes. Turning around and seeing Levi himself standing right behind him, he started, nearly dropping the pile of bowls he was carrying.

"Levi! I thought you usually, um... came later than this."

"I usually do. Today was an exception." It was true; he would normally get off the train in the morning, go to the gym, then stop at a nearby cafe for breakfast, and finally make his way back to the _Petit Géant_ , where he wasn't really needed in the beginning of the day, since they only opened at 1:30 p.m. However, since it was Veteran's Day, the gym was closed, and Levi had grudgingly decided to go check up on the restaurant a bit earlier than usual.

"Well, I, uh, I'm cleaning the dishes, because, um, I was really busy yesterday and didn't have time to finish, uh, washing them and stuff-" stammered Connie.

"Obviously, your definition of _busy_ is flirting with our potato chip loving waitress instead of doing your goddamn job." Connie blushed furiously, looking down sheepishly at his sneakers. "Whatever, just get back to work... And stop slashing water everywhere, you buzz-cut haired runt of a pig!"

"Yes sir, got it, sir!" quipped Connie nervously.

"Levi, not to be rude or anything, but I don't think you're quite in the position to be calling anyone a runt..." chirped Hanji.

"Hanji, shut your trap and get back to whatever you're in the middle of doing, or I'll shove your face into your head with this frying pan."

Hanji laughed loudly, making Levi scowl in defiance. "I seriously _would_ do it. And Connie would pay for the expensive-ass ambulance so he could learn to maybe DO HIS JOB RIGHT NEXT TIME!"

"Yes sir!" yelled Connie from across the kitchen. Levi sighed again. His mind suddenly drifted back to the young man with the green eyes he had met in the train. Eren. That obnoxious brat, he thought as he chopped vegetables with fervor. For some reason, although he tried to clear his mind, those eyes kept popping back into his head like glowing green lightbulbs. Just great. He was being haunted by a pair of eyeballs.

Come to think of it, how did the rest of his face even look? Sort of tanned skin, he guessed, a smallish forehead, a head of thick, sort of neat, sort of messy hair that looked like he had tried to part it in the middle but failed at it, average lips, no facial hair, a high-bridged, cute nose-wait, where the hell did cute come from? It was a goddamn fucking nose, what could be so special about it?! _Your mind is doing strange things, Levi._ On top of that, the guy was pretty tall, which annoyed him even more.

And _there_ were those eyes again! Holy shit, they were impossible to get rid of, GAAHHH-

"Levi, the way you're chopping up that carrot looks like you're trying to murder someone," commented Hanji.

"So maybe I am!"

"Levi, I'm getting the impression that you're in a worse mood than normally today. Maybe you should have just come in at your regular time," she suggested.

"I am feeling positively brilliant as usual, Hanji, so please leave me alone."

"Alright, alright, sure thing honey bun, but to be completely honest with you, it really does seem like something's on your mind and bothering the crap out of you."

"Levi sir I'm once again really sorry and I promise I won't do this ever again and I admit it has happened a couple times but I swear to god this is the last," Connie burst out anxiously, having had the growing suspicion that perhaps the bothersome subject troubling Levi's mind was the fact that he wasn't really fitting the mold of a responsible dishwasher boy. "Please, please don't fire me!"

"Idiot, not everything is about you!"

"I apologize!"

"Ah, whatever, quit worrying, I'm not about to fire you yet; this is about something else. Just... you're getting on my nerves right now so kindly stop dropping dishwasher soap all over the goddamn floor."

"Oh... Oh! Sorry about that!"

Levi rubbed his temples in frustration, still unable to kick that pair of annoying green Christmas lights out of his head. _Soup_ , he reminded himself. _You've gotta make soup_. _Forget about everything else, moron. Don't think of anything green._

"So something _is_ goin' on!" cried Hanji, proud of herself.

"No shit, Sherlock."

"So what... who... where...?"

"Stupid brat with bright green eyes in the train this morning kept talking to me with his stupid brat mouth."

"Aw, did Wevi not get a chance to take his morning nap today? Poor sweetie..."

"I hate you, you four-eyed freak show."

"So what was this guy like?" asked Connie, amused that _anything_ could faze the ever straight-faced chef.

"I told you already: annoying as all hell and as chatty as a fucking monkey on a sugar high."

"What was his name?" asked Hanji.

"Ugh. I think it was Eren... Eren something-"

"Eren Jaeger?" said Connie.

"Yeah, that's the one. You know him? I'm very sorry."

"Yeah, actually we went to the same high school. I mean, he was a year older than me so I didn't know him super well, but we still hung out at, like, parties, or sometimes lunch, things like that. He was always really, um, whaddaya call it... ambitious. He would always brag about how he would be the best at such and such, although his sister-adopted, I think; she was hella scary-would always beat him at everything."

"Really."

"Yup, but he was actually a pretty nice guy when he wasn't trying to pull a punch at anyone. He was always fighting and being reckless with some of the people he was surrounded by; it got a bit annoying and pitiful to see how often he got sent to the office or the nurse. Not much self-restraint, but then again, that was back in high school, and I'm pretty sure that by senior year, he had grown out of most of that stuff. He might have changed a lot by now."

"Honestly, I'd doubt it. He seemed to have a bit too much pride. An ego so big that he asked to sit next to _me_ , when I was obviously wanting to be alone."

"Levi, I think he just wasn't used to people being as mean as you always are on the train. He probably had good intentions and was surely a sweet guy," said Hanji.

"I'm not mean," scowled Levi, "I just like to have a large personal bubble, and I like my privacy, you know what I mean?"

"Sure... But seriously, maybe you should just work on your people skills and you'd get along with most fellow humans."

"I don't like people."

"We know that."

"And my way of interacting with them is perfectly fine. It's just this _one guy_ Eren who's bothering me, and... ugh, Hanji, he works at Erwin's bakery."

"Ah! So that's why this was annoying you so much!"

 _Yeah that, plus the eyes on top of it all._ He couldn't deny it: those eyes were beautiful; they looked like they could have been cut out of emeralds. Fucking shit. Why did he end up complimenting that Eren brat so much? Seriously. The immature kid had obviously decided to learn as much about him as he could, just for curiosity's sake, just barging into his day as if he had always had a place there. Then again, it was Levi's fault for letting him take the seat. And that too, had been out of curiosity...

But Eren had begun asking him these personal questions just like everybody did when they tried approaching him for the first time. There was a reason he avoided questions about his past, things like "Where did you grow up?", "Are your parents doing well?" There was a reason he didn't feel as comfortable with people as others did; there was a reason he didn't take life and relationships of any kind for granted. His years had not been as simple as most assumed. The only person who really knew everything about him was Hanji, and possibly Erwin. Shit, he knew Erwin...

"Ha ha ha, he knows Erwin, that's so ironic, oh my god!" exclaimed Hanji.

"I thought we'd already established that."

"Ha ha ha ha ha, this is so dramatic and exciting!"

"I absolutely loathe you, you know that, Hanji?"

"Who's Erwin, anyway?" demanded Connie.

"An irrelevant shithead."

"And Levi's tall, blond, handsome ex who also happens to own an amazing bakery," added Hanji, in a whisper just loud enough for Connie (and Levi) to hear.

 _"Really?!"_

"Yup."

"Hanji, you know I heard that, right? I hate you even more now. Anyway, it barely lasted three weeks, how can that even count as a relationship?"

"Come on, Levi, this is so entertaining for me."

"Not for me," growled the black-haired man.

Connie and Hanji snickered, then Connie screamed and jumped back as Levi threw the spatula he was holding at him, making Hanji laugh even harder. He sighed again.

"Ugh, Hanji, shut up and pass me the Windex so I can clean something and get my mind off of this mess," said Levi, making his way to the somehow therapeutic and almost constantly dirty window next to that back door.

Funny, he thought bitterly, how everything was becoming so intricately intertwined.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Eren sat down next to Levi in the train again, settling down just before Levi had the chance to put his things onto the seat. After loudly wishing him a good morning, he had launched into a long tirade about some obnoxious guy he worked with who looked like a horse ( _impressive to be so annoying that even this guy notices,_ thought Levi) and then bragged, with a hint of jealousy, about some blond-haired friend he had who was apparently trying to get a law degree at NYU, until he realized that his audience of one was really not listening at all.

"Shut up before I slap you, because I haven't had much sleep on a while and you're ruining my only chance in the day to get even a mere five minutes of rest," had snapped Levi.

The boy had left him alone after that, plugging a pair of headphones into his iPod and humming- _humming_ , didn't he understand when people asked him to shut his trap?-along to the heavy rock he was listening to so loudly that Levi could clearly make out each note of the guitar solos. By then, he had fully given up on getting Eren to stay completely quiet.

The day after, deciding that anyone would be better than his current "train buddy," Levi opted to sit down next to a middle-aged man who seemed harmless enough instead of giving Eren the chance to steal the spot next to him. He couldn't deny the relief and satisfaction he felt when the younger man slipped in next to an elderly woman, a small wave being their only interaction for the day.

However, Levi regretted his decision immediately afterward, when the gentleman he was sitting next to fell asleep and began snoring loudly, opening his mouth widely to let out his fragrant week-old-dead-fish breath. Levi spent the rest of the ride facing the other way and scrunching his nose in disgust.

In the end, for the remainder of the week, Eren and Levi ended up sitting next to each other. Surprisingly enough, Levi discovered that Eren really _could_ stay silent for a period of time longer than five minutes, and gradually warmed up to him as he realized that he wasn't actually as bad as he had thought he was previously.

"You know, you may be a brat, but I'm glad that you don't reek of decaying sea creatures like some people," had said Levi in guise of a greeting on Thursday morning, having realized that he was in an inexplicably good mood.

"Trust me, the feeling's mutual, Levi," had replied Eren, laughing.

On that particular Thursday, Levi had come to the restaurant feeling notably refreshed after a nice workout, and even took the time to wish a good morning to Sasha and Petra, waitress and bartender accordingly, who brightened up considerably due to the shock of the stoic, feeling less man _actually_ communicating effectively and in a pleasant manner. It happened once in a while, but never often enough for them to them to truly get used to these drastic swings in Levi's demeanor.

Well, then again, drastic in degrees of Levi, since a full-on smile was obviously way too much to take on, and was replaced instead by a look in the eyes that was, for once, neither condescending nor disapproving. This was already a huge improvement from two days previously, or as Hanji and Connie liked to call it, Jaeger day, since he had ranted about almost nothing but "that Eren brat" all day until he left at around ten o'clock at night.

Although a true smile was not apparent, Levi had managed a satisfied nod at Hanji after tasting the sauce she was fixing up, followed by a small smirk of appreciation that marked the only way he really acknowledged her talent.

"Better than usual, four-eyes." It was more than enough.

"Wow, Levi, thank you so much!"

"Mm-hm." What was making him so happy, anyway? Levi rolled his eyes as he thought of what Eren had told him in the train that morning, chuckling a bit-silently-at the stupidity of it all.

"So are you _always_ that obnoxiously loud and chatty when you meet people for the first time?" had asked Levi, since the boy was being decidedly more cooperative that day.

He had looked at Levi in shock and obvious embarrassment, which surprised him. "Aha, well, see, I'm really sorry about that, Levi. I, uh, well, I live with my sister-adoptive sister, really-Mikasa, and she needs a lot to get up and going in the morning, much more than I do, and she has this separate coffee that she makes for herself and it's really strong."

 _So I was right about it being caffeine,_ had thought Levi. " I feel like you're even more of an idiot than I thought you were the first time," he commented.

"I am _not_!" retorted Eren. " I just drank hers by accident two days in a row. God, whatever she puts in there could probably make a snail run faster than a race car. But I was in a rush those two days, so I wasn't paying much attention to what I was pouring or what I was drinking. I usually drink a lot of coffee too, in this huge cup with barely any milk in it, and when I accidentally replaced it with Mikasa's little giant-killing formula, it really affected me, as you noticed. So I don't know what kind of monster she is, but I'm once again really sorry."

Seemed like the real Eren Jaeger was actually a normal, maybe a bit loud but still pretty average-acting person, even seeming a bit shy around Levi. Then again, the raven haired man seemed to have that effect on people counting out Hanji and Erwin. And the eyes were still getting to him. For some reason, they seemed to draw him in, just green forever all around him and-

"Excuse me, Levi?" _Shit, shit, he had been caught staring._

Levi cleared his throat. "What?"

"No, uh, don't worry about it."

"Hmph. Well, I mean, as long as you're able to keep quiet, and not constantly be bothering me, you can sit here if you want."

"Really?"

"Mm-hm," had replied Levi, looking down at the now empty thermos he had been holding. "I still think you're pretty goddamn stupid though, so maybe you should just switch to tea. Honestly it might be safer for all of us, yourself included, because judging by the shit your sister drinks, she could probably beat the crap out of you for taking her coffee, even by accident."

"Hah, I guess you're right. I'll think about that."

"This is the kind I like," had said Levi, pulling a teabag out of his sack and showing it to the other.

"You carry tea around in your bag?" had asked Eren, smirking.

"Is that a problem?" had demanded Levi darkly.

"No, no, of course not."

"Whatever. Keep that one and try it out."

"Uh, thanks."

"Hm."

After a pause, the brunette cautiously continued talking, a bit of hesitation apparent in his voice. "You know, I was really curious about you when I always saw you in the train alone. I guess-I guess my overly caffeinated self decided to take the risk of asking to sit with you."

"You forced yourself into the seat, you brat. I don't usually like associating with people much."

"Is there... a reason for that?"

"Not particularly," had answered Levi, avoiding the younger man's intense look. He was aware that Eren probably doubted those words, since nobody really just shut themselves off for no particular reason. The boy hadn't said anything more, however, probably realizing that prying too much was not a safe decision. _Good choice._

Levi stepped back into the kitchen after having taken a breath of cold, stuffy, smoky November air outside and hating it. _Back to cooking and managing everyone's bullshit, I guess._ Just as he finally found the wooden spoon he was looking for in the drawer-God, why did they always put things back where they were damn near impossible to find-the phone in the corner began ringing loudly. Probably a customer wishing to reserve a table for that evening or something.

"Hanji, can you get that for me?" he yelled.

"Yup, on it!" She picked up the receiver, holding it up to her ear then letting it rest between her head and her shoulder. "Hello, this is Le Petit Géant, French gourmet cuisine; how can I help you today?"

Levi began lecturing Connie on the fact that he had left a few traces of food on a couple of the plates.

"You want to speak with the owner?" questioned Hanji.

Was it a reporter from a magazine or something? No one ever asked to speak to the owner unless they were searching to write an article on the restaurant or were planning to come in and review the place.

"Oh!" exclaimed Hanji, her face brightening in recognition. "Okay, okay, sure," she continued. "Levi, this man wants to speak with you!" she shouted, putting her hand over the mouthpiece as to not deafen the person on the other end.

"Tell whoever it is that I'm busy," answered Levi, holding up a glass that still felt strangely sticky and waving in front of Connie's nose.

"He's busy right now," said Hanji into the phone. A pause. "Levi, he says he doesn't believe you."

"Doesn't-what?! What do you mean, he doesn't believe me? Who is this disrespectful shithead? Give me the phone, Hanji."

"Umm, sir, I'm passing you over to him right now. Yes, no problem."

"Hello, who is this?" demanded Levi, growing more and more annoyed.

"Hello Levi. Nice to speak with you again," replied the deep, calm voice of the man on the other end of the line.

"Erwin?!"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Fuck, why the hell didn't Hanji tell me it was you calling? Why _are_ you calling anyway? I hope you realize that you just ruined one of my rare good moods."

"Well, I told her not to tell you."

"Wh-" Levi started. "Hanji, since when do you listen to this asshole?!"

"I just wanted to see your reaction," answered the science maniac, grinning.

"I hate you all. You especially, Erwin."

"Levi, are you still going on about that? I'm really sorry for insulting you, you know, and if you picked up your phone once in a while, you would have seen that."

"... You could've emailed me," said Levi after a pause.

"You changed your email address without telling me anything about it!"

"Oh right... Wasn't that smart? Now, what the fuck do you really want from me, because I actually work, if your stupid little brain can process that fact."

"I just wanted to chat with you."

Levi sighed in disbelief. He really _was_ busy, and and if this prick just wanted to _chat_ with him, he could easily slam the phone back down before Erwin could say anything more.

But since it happened to be a good day, he decided to stay on a little while longer and listen to whatever the dumb blonde wished to say.

"Alright, Erwin. Without overly testing my patience, what the actual fuck is so important that you felt the necessity to call me at work without any form of prior warning so that I could formulate a plan to avoid you?"

"I'm having a Christmas party at my house, and I wanted to invite you." A loud yell was heard in the background, sounding an awful lot like Eren.

"Christmas is in a month, you dumb pile of pigeon crap, and I have no interest in attending your stupid party. And what the hell is going on in your kitchen?"

"Oh, I'm sure you'd like it. Wait a sec, I need to take care of something real quick-Jean!" Erwin yelled to someone behind him. "Whipped cream is used for the cakes, not as shampoo for Eren's hair! Since you wasted so much, make three times as much and whip it by hand!" Erwin sighed, chuckling lightly. "Sorry. Anyway, if you don't come, Levi, Hanji'll force you to, since I invited her too and she'll probably think not best for you to get to know and meet new people."

"Why the hell does everyone think that?! And I thought we weren't talking."

"Looks like we are now. And I think you really should come, Levi; Eren will be there too."

"Why should it matter to me if the green-eyed alien brat will be there?"

"According to him, he's the first person you've ever sat with in the train and actually held a conversation with, and he seems to have taken a liking to you."

"Hmph."

"Levi," continued Erwin. "I've really wanted to talk to you for a while and I wanted to check up on you, and honestly, it really seems to me that you're improving, judging by what Eren tells me about you."

"You're not my father, Erwin. And stop using people as spies for you, okay? It's really not decent."

Erwin laughed. "I hope I'll see you soon, Levi. Are we back to being friends?"

"F-... No."

"I heard some hesitation there; that must be an improvement!"

"Go back to baking your shitty chocolate mousse cakes, alright?"

"They're actually pretty damn good; they've gotten great reviews from-"

"Goodbye."

Levi slammed the phone back down into its place. He sighed deeply. Apparently, everything had been forgiven between them, at least in Erwin's opinion. He closed his eyes and turned around to find everyone else staring intently at him. God, what a bunch of moronic and indiscreet stalkers.

"Auruo," said Levi to the tall man at the other end of the kitchen. "If you haven't finished that French onion soup yet, I'll have to fire you on the spot." He strode past the others, ignoring the fact that they had all hurriedly gone back to their jobs as if they hadn't heard anything.

"Yes, I'm done, Chef, just gotta... add some stuff..." he replied, frantically grabbing the ingredients closest to him.

"Auruo, if you really want to have your own restaurant sometime in the future, you would probably do best not to forget the goddamn cheese in French onion soup. And stop trying to impress me with a bunch of fancy ingredients if you left out the main one, you idiot."

"Ah, yeah, right, cheese... Sorry."

Levi shook his head. _That brat Eren,_ he thought to himself. _I knew this would happen._

That was probably the beginning of everything. After a long period of just waiting, stuck in the past, lingering in one place, the wheels had started turning, and the marble had finally begun to roll again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys! Sorry I haven't updated for a while; I was suffering from writer's block and I didn't know what to do...**

 **once again, the characters and names do not belong to me, they belong to the great Hajime Isayama sensei.**

 **Also! This chapter (even though the whole story is told in third person) is in Eren's POV, because it's about time we saw his little corner of this universe. There will be much less chapters in Eren's viewpoint than in Levi's, but there will be a couple more at least. Alright, now enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Eren paced across the small apartment, looking for a place to start. There were dirty dishes everywhere in the cramped kitchen, cookbooks and sweaters lying around wherever space was available (or _had_ been available), more plates in his room on top of his guitar case, and an old, injured teddy bear slumped in what looked like the most uncomfortable position possible on one of the arms of the sofa in the living room.

How he had managed to make such a mess during only one weekend in which he had the apartment to himself was a mystery to even Eren, but what he knew for a fact was that Mikasa would be back from her short stay at her friend Annie's country house in probably less than two hours, and in that time span, he had to clean everything up so that she didn't blow a fuse when she arrived. Okay, great. This was like a poor, lonesome ant trying to slay a giant. _Shit_ , he was screwed.

The doorbell chimed at that very moment, and Eren flung open the door to welcome in the angel who would rescue him from the dark depths of this pigsty he called home.

"Armin, you are my savior."

"What?" replied the blond-haired man, confused.

"Armin, it's wonderful to see you on this fine Sunday afternoon; do come in."

"You're talking funny, Eren." Armin stepped into the apartment, blinking a few times to wrap his mind around the colossal mess he was facing. "Eren, what the hell did you do here? It looks like a hurricane passed by, bringing with it a tsunami followed by a volcano eruption, topped off with a violent fight between you and... your teddy bear."

"His name is Titan, and he can withstand anything. And a lot of things happen when Mikasa's not around, okay? Especially that I get really hungry and test out a bunch of recipes that may or may not work. And I hate doing dishes."

"And you stay out late going to bars and parties with friends and coworkers, then get even hungrier," Armin said, laughing. "So you need help? I was just stopping by to come and see you, but it looks like you need me more than I assumed you did."

"Yes, please. You're a wonderful man," exhaled Eren.

"No problem. You know what," said Armin, scanning the room, "you just try and find all of the plates and things like that you left lying around, and I'll get the books and clothes. Is there anything in Mikasa's room?"

" _Hell no_! If I touched anything in there, I'd probably wake up mutilated and hairless. There are definitely security cameras and traps set up in there, so if I were you, I wouldn't go near that place."

"... Alright, then."

Eren wandered around the dining room and living room, picking up stray dishes as he went along. Funny, he didn't even remember having eaten chocolate cake... Oh, but Erwin had given out free slices that weekend to everyone working there. It really was a great place to have a job; the atmosphere was pretty relaxed, Erwin was a very nice and understanding person despite his being very strict and having pretty high standards, and all the coworkers were pretty decent people.

Well, then there was Jean, who was able to swing from being the most mature and philosophical person in the kitchen to the most irritating dickhead on the face of the Earth, depending on the time. It had taken Eren _forever_ to get the sticky feeling of the whipped cream out of his hair, and he would have gotten his revenge by slamming a lemon pie into his ugly horse face if he hadn't seen how immensely satisfied and pleased Krista and Ymir had been with their meringue frosting.

At least he had more self-control now. Only a few years ago, he would have attacked Jean back without any second thoughts, and, he supposed, this improvement was probably for the better. Eren remembered how infamous he had become back in high school for breaking a guy's arm. _The asshole deserved it, for calling me a faggot,_ thought Eren to himself. _Yeah, but you were nearly expelled, remember?_ argued the other side of his brain. But he really didn't mean to _fully_ break his arm, just sort of... twist it a bit. Anyway, after a few sessions with a weird but still very helpful psychologist named Dr. Zacharias, he had gotten much better at holding back his violent mood swings and suppressing his anger.

After having finished loading the most things possible into the dishwasher and cleaning the rest by hand- _finally_ -Eren decided he was thirsty and opened the fridge to grab the milk only to find the jug empty. Okay... Orange juice? Empty. And there was only one egg left, sitting on top of some leftover food he had made the night before. Did they at least have bread? Eren opened the freezer to come face to face with... a bagel. And a quarter of a baguette. Right.

"Armin!" shouted Eren.

The blonde, who was standing in the living room, jumped a bit, startled, almost dropping the book he was flipping through before turning his head to face his friend. "What?"

"Either I cooked and ate enough to feed two elephants this weekend, or there really was not much left at all, because there is, like, nothing in the fridge. Well, except for some of this fish and chicken thing that I love to make but that only I actually enjoy eating. So I've got to go and replenish our stocks."

"Want me to come with you?"

"Nah, don't worry about it; you've already done enough."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, actually, could you just wait here in case Mikasa comes back before I do, just so that she doesn't think that I've ditched her or something?"

"Mm-hm. I can do that. Can I borrow this book, by the way?" Armin asked, holding up the murder mystery novel he had been looking at.

"That? Mikasa used to like that shit a lot, but she never really reads 'em anymore, and some of them sort of scare the crap out of me, so sure, go ahead."

"Thanks!"

"No problem. I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Okay, see you. I'll guard the place in case some shady guy tries to break in."

"Sure, sure. Bye!"

Eren stepped out of the apartment, locking the door, just in case, and took the slow, strangely bumpy elevator down to the first floor, from where he walked out to the supermarket down the block. _Damn_ , it was cold; thank God he had brought gloves and a good coat. New York never really seemed to care when it was; winter usually just started whenever it felt like it. And it was only the first week of December. Eren stuffed his hands into his pockets, balling them into tight fists in order to keep the heat in his fingers. For some reason, it was taking longer than usual for the pedestrian sign to switch to "WALK."

A cold breeze drifted through the air, chilling his cheeks and nose. As soon as he crossed, he hurried into the supermarket, where, despite the chilly air they used to keep the vegetables and fruits fresh, it was still much warmer than outside. After grabbing a basket at the entrance, he strolled into the store, settling down in a relaxed standing position in the middle of one of the aisles where it was the warmest, taking off his gloves and rubbing his hands vigorously on his cheeks.

The aisle was directly in front of the door, so Eren was able to observe everyone coming into the supermarket, most of them looking like they were ice cubes caught in a blast of hot air. Through the corner of his eye, he saw someone he thought he recognized. A man with jet black hair styled in an undercut, narrow, dark eyes, elegant and refined facial features... Eren's thoughts began to appear in flashes. _Train. Morning. Caffeine. Tea bags._

 _Levi_.

Since he appeared not to have noticed him, Eren walked out of the aisle, casually following him. Not that he was stalking him or anything, even though, reflecting on that moment later, he realized it was sort of weird for him to be staring so intently at the crowd of people in order to figure out whether or not the man he had seen was actually Levi or just another figment of his overactive imagination.

Well, whether it was Levi or not, Eren needed to buy milk, so he headed over to the dairy section to grab some for the sake of his Oreo-and-milk obsessed sister, because if not, she would probably send him out at one in the morning to buy some if her cravings were going berserk, even at that time of night. And her cravings were a hazard to the household if what she wanted wasn't in the kitchen when she wanted it.

Lost in his thoughts, Eren didn't notice the woman walking by in front of him, and kept ploughing through the store with his eyes glued on his shopping list as if he were alone. He tripped over _something_ -it must have been her shoe-something that sent him flying and about to land face down onto the gracious floor that was waiting for him with magnetic delight, if he hadn't grabbed onto the closest object that there was in front of him.

If Eren had ever experienced an awkward and embarrassing moment in his short lifetime, this had to top the list. The buoy that had saved him from certain death happened to be none other than Levi. Alright, he was ready to die of shame now. Landing with his hands around his shoulders, Eren had accidentally pulled him to the ground along with the carton of cream he was carrying in his hands, and ended up on top of him. Literally. On top of Levi. Face to face. Only about two inches apart.

And their eyes and their noses and their lips were so close, and Eren didn't know what to do with all this information, so he just stared in horror, paralyzed. By this time, a whole group of people had gathered to see what all the commotion was about, including a store employee who, instead of giving them a hand, was trying his best not to shit his pants of laughter. The woman Eren had fallen over was holding her hands over her mouth in an amusing expression of shock and surprise at the situation she had caused.

Levi threw the younger man off of him in a shockingly strong movement, fuming with rage. "Who the _hell_ just-" he yelled, glaring angrily in the direction of the person he had just pushed off. As he focused in on Eren, a wave of recognition passed over him, which transformed his look of anger into one of disgust, exasperation and absolute contempt. "Oh, fuck it all, it's you," he muttered stalely.

Eren stepped forward and began to apologize. "Holy shit, Levi, I am _so_ sorry, I don't know what I was doing or thinking and I tripped..." He stopped. The gaze in Levi's eyes was terrifying and clearly stated: "I have no patience for your bullshit right now." Eren gulped and instantly forgot whatever he was about to say. Unsure of what to do next, he carefully picked up the cream Levi had been holding and nervously handed it back to him. Levi snatched it back from him and swiftly turned around and walked away, flattening and fixing his hair as he left Eren, wide-eyed and silent, behind him.

Someone in the crowd whistled.

"Nice going, man!"

"Haha, smooth as sandpaper,bro!"

Eren ignored them, and, retrieving his senses, went to find a way to properly apologize to Levi.

Eren found him in the cereal aisle, apparently debating between a box of Cocoa Puffs and Frosted Flakes. Levi was actually pretty small, he realized. _Really_ small. Probably no more than five foot three. And since it probably wasn't the right time to mention it, Eren kept his thoughts to himself. Taking a deep breath, he stepped over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Levi whipped around like a hawk spotting its prey at Eren's touch, and the younger man jumped back a bit, startled.

"What?!"

"I'm really sorry!" burst out Eren. "I embarrassed you and I was being stupid and not paying attention to my surroundings, so I deeply apologize," he added, lowering his head and blushing. He punched himself in his mind. _Stupid... I deeply apologize?! What the hell is that? Idiot._

"Stop bowing; it's weird," sighed Levi, glancing at Eren. "As long as you realize that I now intensely dislike you even more than before."

Eren lifted his head and saw that the black-haired man was barely even looking at him. "Anything else you need?" asked Levi, still glaring at the cereal boxes as if one would suddenly magically disappear and he wouldn't have to make a choice.

"Uh, no..." replied Eren. After a few moments, he tentatively added, "I like Frosted Flakes a lot."

"Chocolate is better," said Levi matter-of-factly, tossing the Cocoa Puffs into his basket.

"I thought you were having trouble deciding!" cried Eren, confused.

"I was, until you came along."

"So you just went against whatever my recommendation might be?" he asked incredulously.

"Pretty much."

Levi straightened up and began walking away. Eren followed. He admired the fact that although the man was not tall in stature, he had a very straight, elegant way of holding himself. It gave off a sense of authority. Eren shifted his gaze between Levi's back and his own feet, just to make sure there wasn't some sort of dangerous Lunchables box lying around waiting for its next klutzy victim. Thankfully, there wasn't.

"So what are you doing here, Levi?"

"Buying food, obviously. I'm not a big fan of dying of starvation," he replied without turning around.

"No, what I mean is how did you get here?"

"Perhaps... I walked," said Levi sarcastically.

"Ugh, that wasn't what I meant to say... What I'm trying to say is, I didn't know you lived so close."

"We take. The same. Train."

Eren but his lip and flushed red with embarrassment. "Well, maybe you had a place on the end of the town, I don't know! Do you live in one of the buildings along this road?"

"... Creep."

"I'm not a creep; I'm just curious!" he retorted.

"Yeah. In one of the Shina apartments."

"Woah, the Shina apartments! Aren't those super fancy and nice?"

"Mm. I guess so. Sort of. Not all of them."

"Wait, you live in the building next to mine! I live in the Trost tower. I had to live in the Shiganshina building, but then the lady who was renting the place out to us needed to move back in and we had to move out."

"That's wonderful information. Stop following me," said Levi as he turned a corner.

"You know, I expected you to prefer something fancy and manly like bread and cheese and omelettes over sugar cereal for breakfast," laughed Eren.

"Sweet cereal is _very_ manly," retorted Levi, picking cans of salmon and tuna off the shelves. "Do you think I have time to cook omelettes in the morning? You're not mature enough to understand."

Eren ignored that last comment. "That's a lot of canned fish."

"Good job, you have eyes. They're for my cat."

"Oh, okay. Wait, you feed your cat gourmet salmon?"

Levi stopped abruptly, spinning around to face Eren. _Woah, his hair is perfect,_ thought Eren to himself. _How the hell does he manage that? So neat and smooth..._

"Stop. Following. Me."

"Ah! Right, sorry," muttered Eren. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, then?"

"Probably, there's no avoiding you, right? Try to find a better way to greet me without knocking me over, because you do that one more time and you end up in the hospital."

"Haha, okay!" chirped Eren nervously.

"Go buy what you're here for and stop being such a stalker." Levi began walking away. He was already at the end of the aisle when he turned and added with a touch of sarcasm and frustration, "I know I'm attractive, but leave me alone, okay?"

Eren blushed, and quickly tried to cover it up with a laugh. "Okay, bye, see you!"

What was going on in his head? _Shit, shit, shit,_ he cursed silently. _This was not good._ Really _not good_.


End file.
